Saturday, February 9, 2008

weird factsA Virginia Beach man says he called in a bomb threat to a Target store to get the police away from a grocery store across the street just to rob it of beer!

The saga all started Wednesday afternoon when Virginia Beach Emergency Communications got a 911 call from a pay phone in the Birdneck Shopping Center.The caller, 24-year-old Keith Hamrah, told the dispatcher that a bomb had been placed inside the Target store on First Colonial Road. Hamrah said the bomb was set to blow up as soon and there were armed men outside of the store.

Police officers and the bomb squad responded to Target and evacuated the building. The Department's Bomb Squad was notified and responded to the scene. They checked out the area and found it to be safe.

Two detectives went back to the pay phone Hamrah had used and started searching the area for suspects.

That's when they found a man who was apparently drunk and was subsequently arrested for public intoxication. It turned out to be Hamrah.

In an exclusive interview with NewsChannel 3, Hamrah said that he called the threat in because he and his friends wanted beer at the Food Lion across the street. They tried to get the police at the grocery store to respond to the Target so they had a clear shot of their goods.

Hamrah was charged with one felony count of Threatening to Bomb and Public Intoxication. He is being held in the Virginia Beach Correctional Center on a $5,000 surety bond.